Financial Wellbeing and the Early Release of Superannuation

Abstract

The Early Release of Superannuation (ERS) is one of the Australian federal government’s policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing individuals who were financially impacted by the crisis to withdraw up to A$20,000 over two periods from their superannuation accounts. This thesis investigates the impact of the ERS and if it disproportionately affected low-income earners’ subjective financial wellbeing relative to higher-income earners’. Using data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey and a triple difference framework, I find no substantial evidence supporting this. However, I find statistically significant evidence suggesting that, in general, the ERS improved individuals’ reported satisfaction with their personal finances.